Whitewashing CP

Connaught Place (Rajiv Chowk courtesy official records and Metro) is finally renovated and all ready for the Commonwealth Games, we were told. Well, on the eve of Games as I ‘emerged’ from the underground Metro station in the evening to have a look at this renovated avatar of the complex, the first reaction was Wow! Fabulous.

The brightly-lit, white-washed and ‘renovated’ British-era shopping complex stood out majestically against the dark night sky. And the neon hoardings put by various shopping establishments added colour to the whole show. The pavements, converted into walkways with newly laid tiles, signboards and steel meshes (which ensure that you don’t ‘spill’ out on road at random thereby obstructing the traffic) looked impressive. I decided to take a walk around the Central Park to get the feel of the ‘renovation’ first hand. After all, this place has been an integral part of my (and almost every other Delhiite will agree) ‘hanging out’ sessions right from college days.

Walking around the Central Park, things looked really good. Smoothly flowing traffic in the inner circle, newly painted signboards, renovated parking areas…. It was time to take the closer look at the shopping complex. So crossing the road, I walked in F Block. The usual crowd and excitement was there, the shops looked bright and so did the walkway with the newly laid-tiles. Just when I was about to pass a judgment that it was a job well done, I stumbled and nearly fell down. The tiled path appeared to have disappeared all of the sudden. I looked ahead at the walkway…. “Sh**”

Some tiles in between were missing.
Garbage was lying all around thanks to the absence of dustbins.
The pan stains were back on the pillars.
Beggars were still begging.
Construction material was still lying around.
And whitewash and ‘renovation’ was still going on at various place.

The scene repeated itself in all other blocks.

All the hype of CP getting a new look, I found, was sham.

It was just a whitewash.

Cheers for reservation!

Only for women! The sign greeted me as I stepped on the platform. Finally, Metro started its trial run of reserving first coach after operator’s cabin for women. To drive home the point, guards and other staff were stationed on platforms who ensured that people followed the directions.

The reactions to this arrangement ranged from amusement to happiness and plain jealousy, even leading to minor arguments. While most of the women commuters seemed to be happy, some were amused when males were being asked not to board the coach by the staff on duty. Some men however felt it was unjustified that after getting reserved seats in whole of the train, now women have a whole coach to themselves. And they made their resentment know through barbs and uncharitable comments.

Can’t men accept some arrangements gracefully?

The best part of the whole arrangement: A girl miffed with her boyfriend was able to get ‘rid’ of him (at least during their journey part) by simply walking into the ladies compartment. The guards took care of the guy!

Cheers to Metro!

Dog tale

Better late than never! Can’t miss out on the sights and situations that Metro offers every time I travel in it, so the writing continues.

The girls shrieked and the boys laughed while all those sitting around turned their heads towards them to find out what happened. And when they saw what had made the girls shriek, there were smiles all around.
As the Metro left Dwarka Sector 10 station, an unusual passenger walked through the train. A Labrador. The canine chose to stop by the side of a boy who was standing and talking on phone. As he moved around, the boy patted his head, making the handsome doggy wag his tail and girls around scamper in fear. God knows why they were afraid, because the light-coloured creature didn’t display even a slightest bit of aggression. Just that he was a bit ‘nosey,’ sniffing everyone coming in his way.
But then that is what his job was. The ‘cute’ Labrador was a sniffer dog on Metro security duty. At that moment however he seemed to have achieved a celebrity status, grabbing all the attention and admiration. Having done his job, he sat down just behind the driver’s cabin in the first coach. The next station came. He got up. The police officer accompanying him pointed towards exit. He walked out. He was not on leash and no verbal orders were given. The intelligent doggy knew his job well.
Quite a pleasing sight but my only regret--- I didn’t ask the police officer the Labrador's name.
Travelling late in night in the train often makes you privy to interesting conversations that people carry out on phones and that too in such a loud voice that one often wonders why they use the phones at all. A pretty girl sitting opposite to me got a call. The moment she picked it up, she rebuked some chap Gaurav on the other and told him that she didn’t have even 5 minutes to listen to his talk. Fine, the call ended. Just two minutes later, she made a call, discussing some presentations and other official stuff. For next 15 minutes the call continued. As she stood up to ‘deboard’ at her station, her voice came across clealy--- “Fine Gaurav, follow it the way we had decided.”

Door keepers !

A break from the work, a forced one courtesy cold, fever and backache, for a couple of days made me realise that I was missing something. I figured it out when I landed on platform on Monday evening. It was my regular Metro ride that I hadn’t taken for last 3 days. As the train approached, I felt a strange kind of satisfaction… that all is well… that the world (or should I say the routine) hasn’t changed since I took the break.
But the satisfactory feeling turned into disgust as I stepped inside. The train seemed to be bursting at its seams thanks to passengers who had packed themselves into it just like a pack of sardines. As I pushed and squeezed my way into the coach, making sure that none of my body parts got stuck between the sliding doors, I found inside there was still some room where one could stand easily. But then most of the people preferred to stick closest to the doors even if they had to ‘deboard’ at least 10 stations away. Why so, I began to think, after I found some space to stand a bit comfortably. Probably, because those people hadn’t got over their ‘bus habits’ yet. Well before Metro became a ‘preferred’ mode of public transport in the National Capital, Delhiites used to travel by buses… DTC, Yellow line, Blue Line, Red Line, Green line and White line …. During summer, when all these line used to be packed to hilt , again like a tin of sardines, people made every effort to stand closer to doors. Some even preferred to hang on foot boards as it gave one some fresh air to breathe, which one could hardly get inside. Also, the place was relatively cooler.
The mode of transport has changed but not the habit. The doors are still crowded. People don’t realise Metro is fully air-conditioned. So you will get ‘cooled off’ anywhere in the train. Also, the doors remained closed unlike in the buses. So you won’t get ‘fresh air’ while standing at the doors. The only thing you get is a frowning passenger who boards the train at the next station and finds you in his/her way.

Speechless!

What happens when Metro loses its voice? When you suddenly realise that the familiar voice “Dwarka Sector 11 Station. Doors will open on your left. Mind the Gap” is not playing anymore. As I began to get used to this ‘sound of silence,’ the speakers in the train suddenly came alive with a jarring voice. “This is Dwarka station. Yeh Dwarka station hai.” It was train driver substituting fro the computer software that for some strange reason seemed to have taken a break. Every time he made an announcement, it seemed he was doing it under some threat, much to the amusement of all those sitting inside.

The sound of silence had its effect on the kids too. For some strange reason a couple of them who were present in my vicinity were quiet and surprisingly well behaved ( Kids usually are not so in Metros--- either they will stand on the seats clinging to your shoulder and looking out of windows or just keeping screaming and running around) except for one little brat sitting opposite me. He had his index finger in his mouth and every time I looked at him, I found him staring at me and smiling. I smiled back a couple of times but then realised that his mother sitting next to him might think otherwise. I got back to reading